This morning the finalists for The Story Prize, for books published in 2017, were announced.
- The King Is Always above the People, by Daniel Alarcón
- Homesick for the Another World, by Ottessa Moshfegh
- Anything Is Possible, by Elizabeth Strout
All of these are familiar names here at The Mookse and the Gripes, though I haven’t read any of these particular collections.
Do any of you plan to read the three collections? If so, please let us know your thoughts and which one you’d choose!
Larry Dark and Julie Lindsey selected the three finalists. Three independent judges will choose the winner. The judges are Susan Minot, Walton Muyumba, and Stephanie Sendaula.
Daniel Alarcón – I could have sworn I read some stuff by him, but when I went to check out his list of publications nothing looked familiar. It’s possible I read “Collectors” which was published in The New Yorker in 2010, but I can’t be sure. Odd.
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Ottessa Moshfegh – I like her stuff so much, I had read all but one of the stories in this book before it was published, as all but one had been previously published. She would get my vote. (PS for Trevor – “Ottessa” has two T’s :-)
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Elizabeth Strout – I first heard of the TV version of Olive Kitteridge when it won a bunch of awards. Rather than watch the adaptation, I tried reading the book. It was ok, but not for me. I only read a few of the stories before quitting. It reminded me of how I often feel reading Alice Munro, so that has to be worth something. I have not looked at this nominated book. Probably won’t
I talked about Elizabeth Strout’s Anything Is Possible much of last year–I think it’s such an interesting book and would love to discuss it with others. I’m glad it’s being recognized as a collection of short stories (on Amazon it’s listed as a novel). It’s a fairly short read, as is its companion long story, My Name Is Lucy Barton. While it’s not necessary to have read the latter, together the two make a remarkable collection.